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Joining The Dots

I have now published my new book, Joining The Dots, which offers a fresh look at the Atlantis mystery. I have addressed the critical questions of when, where and who, using Plato's own words, tempered with some critical thinking and a modicum of common sense.

Recent Updates

Hopi

Atlantis and 2012. Some years ago there was a widespread rumour that an impending global disaster that was about to befall us in December, 2012, supposedly based on a particular reading of Mayan inscriptions. However, this interpretation was hotly disputed and of course, nothing happened, apart from the usual assortment of disasters which is the lot of the inhabitants of this cosmic speck that we live on.

A number of commentators attempted to link this ‘promised’ catastrophe with the story of Atlantis. One of the better known is Frank Joseph who has earned a comfortable living over recent years with his output of books on the subject of Atlantis. Not wishing that particular revenue stream dry up added Atlantis and 2012[0694], in which he claimed that the Mayan calendar was developed by Atlanteans and Lemurians. He suggests that we may be nearing the beginning of a new Ice Age invoking Hopi, Inca and Norse mythologies in support of his claims. Joseph’s credibility should now be clear. When the world did not end, Joseph revised his book and republished it as Atlantis and the Coming Ice Age[1074] in 2015!

We were then told to forget 2012, in fact, we had only days left. Harold Camping a then ninety year old American fundamentalist Christian decreed that May 21st 2011 was the date of the ‘Rapture’ and the end of the world as we know it and when that passed uneventfully, he then declared October 21st as the date. He had previously suggested May 21st 1988, then Sept. 6th 1994 as the date of the Second Coming of Christ. Understandably, Camping’s biblical interpretation has been heavily criticised by scriptural authorities and lay people alike(a). Camping died December 2013.

Camping had spending large amounts of money publicising his daft ideas. As usual there were fools prepared to believe all this 2011 or 2012 nonsense. For my part I planned a special holiday in 2013 to celebrate my 70th birthday. Which did occur.

Chris McCann

Nevertheless the spirit of Camping lived on in the person of Chris McCann (left) who announced that October 7th 2015 would be the Earth’s last day. It seems that this silliness is unending(h).

In 2010 a British service entitled Post Rapture Pet Care, run by atheists, offered to look after the pets of fundamentalist Christians when they are taken up to Heaven in the Rapture, for a fee of £69.99. A similar service is on offer in the US named Eternal Earth-Bound Pets.

National Geographic offers a rational explanation(d) of the reality behind this whole 2012 cynical scaremongering exercise. However, a somewhat less restrained view of the 2012 con job is provided by a ‘must read’ website(e)that highlights the harm being done to young and vulnerable people by this nonsense.

A recent discovery in Guatemala, reported in June 2012(f), has provided further evidence that the 2012 alarmist claims are unfounded and no more credible than the prognostications of Harold Camping. Let me spell it out, the latest find simply records that December 2012 will bring a Mayan time cycle (a baktun) to an end while another one will begin, in the same way that we make a fuss at the end of a year, century or millennium.

However, for those that might be disappointed when 2013 arrives uneventfully, I can now reveal that in 2016 we shall at last have our catastrophe or so says Sylwester Kornowski(g). In a 94-page stew of religion and ‘science’, we are assured that April 2nd 2016 will bring on the cataclysm!

But don’t despair if 2016 fails to destroy us, because a newer prognostication is certain that 2027 will finally finish us off. Nevertheless, before getting too excited, it may be no harm to recall the words of Albert Einstein……“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”

Josef F. Blumrich(1913-2002) was an Austrian space engineer with NASA (1959-1974). He is best known for his 1973 book[692], The Spaceship of Ezekiel, originally published in German. In my opinion this single underated book did more to scientifically underpin the ‘ancient astronaut’ theory than all the rather questionable output of Erich von Däniken. In 1974, Blumrich contributed(c) a synopsis of his ideas to the UNESCO publication, Impact of Science on Society.

Nevertheless, there are aspects of Blumrich’s book that have been criticised(b).

His lesser known volume, Kásskara und die sieben Welten[693] (Kasskara and the Seven Worlds), was written in 1979. This book recounts the history of the Hopi Indians as told to Blumrich by Hopi chief White Bear Fredericks who tells of a war between Kásskara and Talawaitichqua, which White Bear identified as Mu and Atlantis respectively. He also dates the existence of ‘Atlantis’ to at least 80,000 years ago. While this may dismay or delight depending on one’s preconceptions, I would suggest that the introduction of Atlantis and Mu into White Bears narrative was a device to make the story more accessible to outsiders.

*More can be read about White Bear and Hopi beliefs in an extensive article by Shawn Hamilton(d), a committed student of native American culture.*

Martin Freksa has published[691] excerpts from the book, while elsewhere a forum(a) discusses Blumrich’s credibility.

The Hopi Indians, currently settled in northeast Arizona, are the descendants of the Anasazi who in turn are believed to have had links to the Aztecs.

Another site associates them with the Maya(b)(c).A number of writers have tried to suggest that the Hopi had an early connection with Atlantis employing a highly subjective interpretation of their traditions and flood myths.

Others have associated the Hopi with UFOs and the supposed disasters that were due in 2012.

*One of the traditional Hopi tales points to a sunken land in the Pacific, Kássara, as their original homeland, which they had to flee as it began to slowly sink(d) .*

There is now a website(a) dedicated to the Hopi and their petroglyphs.